


Coffee, a Poem, and a Certain Tired Redhead

by meandmybrokenfeels



Series: NaNoWriMo 2016 One-Shot Collection [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Ficlet, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 19:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8459809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meandmybrokenfeels/pseuds/meandmybrokenfeels
Summary: Prompt 1: “I accidentally stumbled upon your makeshift hideout on school grounds let me nap here and I won’t say a word.” Prompt 2: “Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead.” -Lucille Ball.





	

Dex was exhausted. His dorm was always noisy, no matter the time. Same with the Haus. He had an hour break before his next class, and he really should use this time to study, but he was just _so tired_. 

Sneaking around one of the old English buildings, he tripped over a loose tree root and stumbled, nearly hitting his head on the brick wall…

… and came face to face with Derek Malik Nurse.

“The hell?”

Nursey’s eyes flashed with panic. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Dex shot back. 

“Chill out, bro,” Nursey said, slipping back into his ever-cool persona. “What's it to you?”

Dex looked around. “This is quite the setup you have here.” Nurse was sitting on a flannel blanket and had a coffee thermos next to a notebook with a couple of pens. There were even a few snack wrappers lying around, giving the impression that this wasn't the poet’s first trip to the secluded corner. “What are you doing?” he asked, moving closer to try and get a peek at the words written in the notebook. 

“None of your business!” Nursey insisted, quickly blocking his friend’s way by leaning over the incriminating evidence. 

Dex raised an eyebrow. “Come on, Nurse. It can't be that bad.” The guard didn't move. “Don't make me do this…” he added, eying the notebook and his adversary. “You asked for it.”

Dex attacked, shoving Nursey’s shoulders out of the way.

“Hey!”

“Let me see it!”

There was pushing and shoving, and Dex got his hands on the notebook for a moment before his arm was knocked out from under him and the writing went flying. Dex found himself lying on top of Nurse, his body pinning the other boy to the blanket. The two blinked, minds catching up to the situation, before Nursey rolled over and roughly kicked Dex away. 

“God, bro! What was that all about?”

“What are you hiding? We all know you write poetry, dude, let me see.”

“No, dude, it's personal,” Nursey said, scrambling to retrieve the notebook. 

Dex rolled his eyes. “Whatever, man. I'll just tell your advisor that you've got a weird little makeshift hideout on school grounds. Is this even allowed? What's next, am I gonna find twinkly lights in that corner over there?” He moved to check, and Nursey pushed him again. “Chill,” said Dex mockingly. 

“Shut up, Poindexter,” Nursey mumbled. 

“Is it comfy back there?”

“Why do you care? You can’t have this spot; I claimed it as my own. And you’re not allowed to tell anyone!” he added.

Dex got an idea. “I won’t tell…” Nursey’s face was guarded as he waited for the conditions of the agreement. “... if you let me nap here.”

“That’s it?” he asked, confused.

“Of course, you have to read me what you wrote while I do so. Don’t think I’ve given up,” Dex concluded.

“No way.”

“Then it looks like Mr. Davidson is going to be getting an interesting anonymous note about the forgotten area behind his building.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

Dex really wouldn’t, but he was even more tired from their mini wrestling match and he really, really wanted to nap here. The weather outside was perfect, and the blanket looked soft and inviting. Hearing Nurse’s poetry only sweetened the deal. Even Dex had to admit that the guy could write--the team had gone to slams that punctuated his pieces with tears.

“... Do I have to?” 

This guy really liked his relaxation spot. Dex would hate to see it be destroyed, and he could see that Nurse was close to cracking.

He sighed. “You win, off I go to the office.”

“No! Fine. Whatever. I’ll read you the stupid poem,” Nursey grumbled, scooching over to the other half of the blanket to clear a space. 

Dex moved to lay on his stomach and immediately melted into the comforting flannel. “Anytime, Nurse.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nursey opened the notebook to the page he’d been writing on before being so rudely interrupted. “It’s just a work in progress, and it’s not anywhere near being finished, so you don’t get to judge me on that.”

“Just read, Derek.”

Nursey began to read his poem. A few lines in, Dex raised his head and stared at him, but the reader kept his eyes firmly trained on the paper, cheeks appearing slightly more red than before. 

After a minute, it was done, seeming to end in the middle of a thought. “Like I said, it's not finished, and I need to edit-”

“Who the hell was that about?” Dex asked, cutting him off. 

“I- I don't know what you-”

“Nobody talks like that about just anyone. They've got to be special.” Nursey didn't answer. “Come on, you can tell me,” Dex said softly, shifting to sit cross legged and lean closer to his friend. 

He paused when he noticed his face was only a few inches from the other boy’s. Nursey didn’t move, flicking his eyes over Dex’s face before settling on his lips. 

“I thought nothing bothered you ever, Nurse. You look nervous,” Dex said, smirking.

“You really know how to kill the mood, Poindexter,” Nursey grumbled, pushing Dex on his back to reverse their earlier positions. Now he was the one pinning the other down. His face was hot as he hovered closely over Dex.

Dex was back to where he had been moments before--staring intensely at Nurse. “You know, that poem was really gay.”

“Damn you,” Nursey exhaled before leaning down. 

They say the first kiss is never good. Well, this one certainly wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great by any means, but it was okay. It was comfortable. Nursey smelled like ink and tasted like coffee and it was driving Dex crazy. 

They pulled apart after a few long moments and looked at each other, both trying to suppress their grins.

“Your coffee tastes like shit,” Dex commented.

“Your face tastes like shit,” Nursey shot back.

“Dude, chill,” Dex said, smirking as he pulled Nursey’s head down for more before he could protest.

Their kiss was interrupted by Dex’s yawning. “The hell, bro.”

“Don’t you ‘bro’ me, Nurse.”

“I swear, it’s like you are your own cockblock. You’ll never get laid if you keep that up.”

“Are you implying that I’d be getting laid otherwise?” Dex asked, raising an eyebrow.

“All I’m saying is that you’re killin’ these mad vibes I’m sending out, man.”

“What are you, gay? And from the seventies?”

“I can definitely say no to the second question,” he stated matter-of-factly. “As for the first,” he paused, “you tell me.” He leaned in once more, but Dex was more interested in something else on the blanket.

“This poem is totally about me, right,” he said while yawning, snatching up the notebook and flipping through to find the page Nursey had been reading from earlier. Nursey groaned, his attempts at continuing the fun now clearly futile.

“Will you just chill with the poem?” he begged, trying to grab the book back.

“Dude, you are about as chill as a melted glacier right now. I think you can chill out with the whole ‘chill’ thing. Besides, look at some of these phrases: freckles scattered like stars, an unbelievably good lay-”

“Hey, that one wasn’t in there,” Nursey said, lunging for the book again while Dex laughed at his pathetic attempt.

“What’s that in the margins?” Dex asked, pulling the book even closer so he could read the scribbles. “Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love…” he fell quiet, “with a gorgeous redhead,” he finished as his face grew even redder than usual.

“Um, that’s a… That’s a Lucille Ball quote. I found it when I was doing research,” Nursey attempted to explain.

“... Research for what?”

“Would you believe I was writing a script for a porno?”

Nursey laughed as he dodged the notebook Dex threw at his head.

“You’re an idiot,” said Dex, rolling his eyes and laughing.

“And you’re a gorgeous redhead,” Nursey said as he leaned in to kiss him again.

The pair was interrupted by the alarm on Dex’s watch going off. “Ugh, I have to run to history. I just know that Mr. Olson will have my ass if I’m late again.” He stood and took a moment to stare longingly at his spot on the blanket. “Am I ever gonna get to take my nap?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to take a moment to thank my friend Leah (breakingmystie on tumblr) for staying up with me and helping me through some rough spots with this even though she doesn't read Check Please and had no clue who the characters were. It was done out of a pure love for the art of gay. I wasn't sure how some scenes would work, or if I would reach my word count goal, but she pushed me (sometimes literally) and I came out mostly alive. Thanks, nerd.


End file.
